A Change of Heart
by T N Wilson
Summary: Things and people change...


A Change of Heart   
  
  
  
"EEK! A bug!" shrieked Sarah Jennings as she leapt from a low branch and behind Haruka Tenoh. The blonde laughed and brushed strands of the short locks away from her face. Looking at the indigo haired girl at her back, she reached behind her and patted the older girl on the head. "It's not funny, Haruka."  
  
This caused the tomboy to laugh again. "Yes, it is. You couldn't possibly be scared of a beetle, could you?" Meanwhile, the brown insect idly crawled across the tree branch, unaware of the girl who feared it so.  
  
Sarah peeked out from behind the masculine lady and blushed momentarily. Catching herself, she shook it off and looked up at Haruka. "I'm not scared of them…I-I just don't want it to, like, clamp down on my leg or something." She narrowed then closed her eyes and stepped out from behind her. Scratching the back of her head, she moved in front of the girl and changed the subject. "Anyway," she started as she opened her eyes. Her cheeks flushed again and she continued. "Is your bike ready for next weeks race?" At that moment, the scent of roses invaded Sarah's senses.  
  
"It shouldn't matter if it's ready now or not. You know she'll win." It was Michiru Kaioh. Her shoulder-length, aqua hair flowed elegantly behind her as she approached the two. She eyed Sarah with a sort of sternness causing the girl to avert her own pale violet orbs.  
  
"I was just looking out for Haruka's safety."  
  
"Yeah, Michiru. Lighten up. She doesn't mean anything by it." Michiru quickly glared at Haruka and caused her to visibly jump. After such a look, the female straightened up and took on the more cool, introverted side of her personality. However, the emotion in her eyes read that she wasn't too fond of the way Michiru treated Sarah.  
  
Sarah was panged by the fact that Haruka had to become a completely different person in Michiru's presence-the fact that she couldn't be herself. She opened her mouth to speak in Haruka's defense but quickly shut it again. What's the use? She sighed and gathered her things. When she stood, she could have sworn she had seen the tomboy watching her, which caused her cheeks to flush once more. With a last sigh, she turned away from the two with her head lowered. "I've…got to go…see you, Haruka."  
  
"See you, Sarah." When the girl was out of earshot, Haruka's eyes slid in her partner's direction.  
  
"I don't want you talking to her."  
  
Haruka raised a brow to the female's comment. "What did she do that was so wrong, Michiru?"  
  
"She's an enemy. I can sense it. Can't you feel it when you're near her? She's clearly not from this galaxy."  
  
Haruka more than jumped at this statement-she almost fainted. When she recovered her senses, she looked back in the direction Sarah had left in and frowned. Her full expression read of sorrow and disappointment, but she wouldn't let Michiru see this from her. Once she had shaken away her previous thoughts, she crossed her arms, "the Sailor Starlights weren't from this galaxy…"  
  
"Neither were the Deadmoon Circus or the Animates."  
  
Haruka frowned, remembering vividly the battle against Sailor Galaxia and the Animates. She, too, had sensed something from the slightly older girl, but she nothing she sensed hinted as harmful. However, she wasn't about to object to Michiru. "What do you have in mind?"  
  
"Oh my gosh! I was just looking for you, Sarah," Usagi Tsukino exclaimed as she jogged up next to her in her typical cheerful manner. She had her long, blonde hair in its usual pigtails, a blue sundress covered in bunnies and crescent moons, and her arms filled with UFO catcher dolls. "Could you help me carry these? My bag is already overflowing."  
  
She chuckled and extended her arms, "of course, Usa." The other girl was almost an entire foot shorter than Sarah; so Sarah had to bend down to retrieve the items from her companion. She took a look at Usagi's prizes and blushed at the sight of a doll that resembled her. "Usa, who is the girl in the tye-dyed sailor suit?"  
  
Usagi glanced over and pointed, "Oh, her? That's Sailor Amity. She's pretty new…I wish I could find out who she really is. She's so cool." Sarah smiled and almost thanked her.  
  
By the time they reached Usagi's house, Sarah's face began to show the internal distress she was experiencing as a result of Haruka's previous actions. Usagi saw this and inquired why she looked so depressed. Sarah explained the encounter with Michiru from before and how Haruka had reacted. Usagi hugged her sympathetically. When she pulled away from her, she noticed there was something different about the peace sign pendant that hung from Sarah's neck. There seemed to be a sort of glow about the eye-shaped crystal, which acted as the necklace's centerpiece. Blinking, she picked the item up, startling Sarah. As soon as Usagi's skin made contact with the crystal, her transformation broach opened and the imperium silver crystal inside began to flash. She gasped and dropped the pendant, looking up at Sarah in complete shock. She didn't know what to say. Sarah took the pendant into her own hand and lowered her head. "Usa…There's something I have to tell you…"  
  
"GO, MINA!" Makoto Kino cried out as she hopped up and down next to Minako Aino's racing booth. As usual, the tall brunette was playing cheerleader to her much shorter, blonde companion. Short, deep blue hair peeked out from behind Makoto with a giggle.  
  
"If you spent as more time studying as you did on that game, you'd make better grades than I do," exclaimed Ami Mizuno as she watched her glasses slip down her nose. She readjusted them and looked around. She noticed that Rei was nowhere to be seen, but she figured the girl was fulfilling her duties as head priestess of the Hikawa Jinja. Across the room, amidst the rows of arcade games, she saw Luna and Artemis teaming together on one of the Sailor V games. Ami chuckled at the sight and returned to watching Minako. Hotaru Tomoe sat quietly reading behind the counter next to Motoki while he, too, laughed at the sight of two cats playing a video game.  
  
On the other side of Tokyo, at the Hikawa Jinja, Rei tied ribbons to the trees, which lined the Shrine's walls. The calm of the day did not last for much longer. A breeze blew by Rei, causing her to look up with alert eyes and around her. All she could see, however, were the swaying of tree limbs and yellow ribbons. She exhaled and returned to her chores. A few moments later, she heard a partially maniacal laugh from an unknown direction. As she turned around once more to see if she could spot the source of the laughter, hordes of spiders came crawling up from every direction into one place. They piled on top of one another, mounding high until they formed the silhouette of a man. Once the last arachnid was in place, they melted and fused together. In disgust, Rei covered her mouth and took a few steps back. The mound of humanoid goo opened two mouths and began laughing once more as it began making its way towards the young Priestess.  
  
Rei narrowed her eyes and pulled out a small scroll. "Rin, pyou, tou, sha, kai, jin, retsu, sai, zen. Akuryou taisan!" She finished her chant and threw the anti-evil scroll at the creature. It smacked the paper away as if it were a fly. Rei took another step back and gasped. She took an offensive stance, "Mars crystal power, make up!"  
  
Back at the Crown Arcade, Ami looked down at her watch as she began beeping wildly. Everyone looked at her and nodded.  
  
"Venus crystal power…" Began Minako.  
  
"Jupiter crystal power…" Followed Makoto.  
  
"Mercury crystal power…"  
  
"Saturn planet power…"  
  
"Make-UP!!!"  
  
Sarah noticed the flashing in Usagi's bracelet then looked up at its owner. Usagi, terror stricken by the thought of a friend being in danger, hopped up from her couch and opened her broach, "Moon Eternal…Make-UP!" In a flash, the blonde was gone. Sarah stood as well and removed the silver-ish blue crystal from her pendant. Holding it out in front of her, she took a breath and tossed it into the air, leaping into the air after it. Everything around her was black, only her hands with tempest hued, glowing nails can be seen. Though flickering at first, the silvery blue, eye-shaped crystal grew in strength and glowed between her raised hands. "Armistice...Crystal Power...Make up!"  
  
Instantaneously, a peace sign appeared inside the crystal and everything became brighter. The sounds of flutes and pipes filled the air as her, now, nude (though energy covered) form was revealed. Her Indigo hair whipped about violently, and she opened her pale violet eyes as a similar symbol appeared on her forehead. Sakura and rose petals, feathers and streams of silver and blue flew about and engulfed the her, now, spinning body--a sailor suit with a blue and silver tye-dyed skirt taking their place in a flash of light. Her arms lowered as a mid-forearm length, white gloves formed over each hand. A sparkling is seen around her neck as a rainbow-colored, tye-dyed choker with a small peace sign in the middle materialized.  
  
The crystal lowered and placed itself in the middle of the heart-shaped piece in the middle of the tye-dyed bow on the front of her sailor suit. She quits spinning and performs a roundhouse kick with each leg as indigo shoes with straps that wound half way up her shins appeared. Unlike the other sailor soldiers, her tiara wasn't golden but made of flowers that wound across her forehead. Her hair parted and braided itself then wound about her head as she struck a starting pose.  
  
Holding out her balled fist, she bent her hand upward, opened it and twinkling is seen as a diamond key materialized in front of the open palm(which faced away from her). As it floated there, her eyes glowed pink and sparks flew around her. "Amity staff...CRYSTALIZE!" she called out, and the key began to spin and grow as it turned into a silver and gold swirled, key-shaped staff. Its top was a heart-shaped hole with a large, rotating crystal (much like the one she transformed with) floating within it. She catches it then twirls the staff in her fingertips, holding it with the top facing outward and the bottom tip touching her left foot, her other hand on the opposite hip.  
  
When the first of the Sailors reached Rei, she was strung up on the Archnoid's web. They were able to hold the creature back until Sailor Amity and Moon arrived at the scene, and together they destroyed it. They hadn't been standing there for five minutes after the monster was returned to the goo it had come from-Sailor Mercury removing Rei from the webbing-when out of nowhere a cry was heard. "URANUS.... WORLD.....SHAKING!!!!" Instantly, a sand-coloured ball of energy struck Sailor Amity in the shoulder. Not too long after the first attack, another was heard. "NEPTUNE...DEEP...SUBMERGE!!!" The second call was followed by a blast of water based energy, which struck Amity in the side and chest, knocking the crystal from her Sailor suit. The crystal flew and landed next to Sailor Jupiter who instinctively picked it up. With the crystal gone, Amity became Sarah again.  
  
The sound of Sarah's pain-filled cry stabbed stright into Sailor Uranus' soul. Her eyes widened as the girl was sent spiraling through the air, landing on her stomach and sliding to a stop not far from Sailor Saturn who, even as the soldier of destruction, had to turn her head to keep from vomitting at the sight of flesh ripped and charred by the energy of Uranus and Neptune's attacks. Eternal Sailor Moon moved towards her friend but was stopped by Neptune who stalked towards the wounded young woman. Sailor Uranus moved to follow her partner, but she stopped next to Sailor Moon. She immediately knew what she had done was wrong.  
  
Uranus looked down at the injured Sarah at Neptune's feet then to the aqua-haired woman that towered overhead. At that moment, all time seemed to stop as memories began to overwhelm her. Distinctive moments she had shared with both females drifted through Uranus' mind...and suddenly, two moments stuck right out in her head. One was the confrontation between the two ladies from earlier in the day. She had been fully enjoying the laugh she received from Sarah's "Bug scare" when Michiru had walked up, causing her to clam up and how it had hurt Sarah immensely. Her eyes trailed downward at this thought, her fists clenched tightly. The blonde lifted her eyes and realized Sarah had managed to sit up and was watching her. It surprised Uranus that Sarah's eyes were just as soft as when she had met the girl,despite the pain she obviously had to be experiencing in her back, chest and right side. It was a shock that the girl didn't hate her for being one of the two to attack her. The sparkle about her eyes was peaceful...no, peaceful wasn't the word...it was more like...tranquil.   
  
Immediately, both eyebrows raised as a memory of her life during the silver millennium began to resurface. It was hazy at first, but she could distinctly make out the Moon palace--more specifically, the garden. She had stumbled over a previously unnoticed tree branch and was on the ground holding her arm. It was scraped and bleeding, but she wasn't going to make a fuss about it. She had just stood when a hand landed on her shoulder. She jumped and turned, discovering a girl in a long, flowing deep blue gown with silver trim, curled indigo locked topped with a floral tiara. The silver peace sign on her forehead only madeher pale violet eyes look more amazing. She had to put forth effort to keep her jaw from dropping. The innocence of her smile, her eyes...her entire being seem to make her submit because she didn't fight the girl off when she place her free hand on the scrape. The girl's hand and her arm gave off a momentary light blue glow before she removed it, the skin healed. The girl looked up at her, causing her to blush, and whispered to her before walking away. "Wouldn't want Neptune making a big deal over it..."  
  
She looked at Sarah as two and two were finally making four. The girl from her flash back had been Tranquility, a stranded princess whose galaxy had been destroyed. Tranquility had asked to become an advisor to Queen Serenity as a way of staying in the Moon Kingdom. She must have been reborn on Earth when the Kingdom was annilated as well. The peace signs, the love of blue and silver. Sarah was Princess Tranquility! She almost couldn't hide her surprise. When Tranquility had been reborn, she retained her caring, protective nature...while Michiru had changed, had become self-centered andsingle-minded...only caring about this mission or that and not the fact that they were given a chance to live a life they would have otherwise missed out on.  
  
Sailor Uranus untransformed back into Haruka. Everyone looked at each other wondering what she was up to. Haruka walked up to Neptune and stood over Sarah. "Get away from her, Michiru." Neptune jumped, looking appalled by her partner's sudden change of position. Then, she too returned to her normal form, as did everyone else.  
  
"What are you doing, Haruka?"  
  
"What I should have done a long time ago. You have no clue as to who she is, do you?" She began, Sarah looking up between Haruka and Michiru. "Sarah was once the only person that cared as much about the peace of the universe as Queen Serenity herself. That girl was once Princess Tranquility, advisor to Serenity...I remember the day her Galaxy was destroyed. It wasn't three hours after she had left to return home that she returned with tears in her eyes. Those tears weren't for her losing a home...they were for all the people that had lived there. She was reborn with the rest of us. But the thing is, unlike you, she managed to stay the same person from life to the next...You...you....I don't even know you anymore." She looked down and extended a hand to Sarah, who slowly gave her own to the woman. Haruka smiled down at her then slowly looked back at Michiru. "We may both be Sailor Soldiers of the outer planets, but I don't want to have anything else to do with you. Consider our ties cut, Michiru-san."  
  
The sound of the -san being added to her name, meaning that she was just another person to Haruka now, caused her to glare. "Have it your way. See how far you get without me." With that, the aqua-haired woman stormed away. Haruka knelt down next to Sarah with everyone shocked by what had  
  
just happened. One by one, they each moved to Sarah's side.  
  
"Haruka....why did you..?" Sarah inquired.  
  
"Because I realized I was making a mistake. With her, I was uptight. I couldn't be who I wanted to be. Since I've met you, I've known what it was like to laugh and really enjoy it. Please....if it's not too much to ask...I'd like to have to by my side." Haruka's eyes read of a new softeness no one had ever seen out of her. Sarah took no time to think it over--it had been what she had wanted since the first time she had ever seen her, and she nodded proudly. Suddenly, a tear slid down Haruka's cheek...the first one she had shed since she was reborn. She lifted the hand that was still in her own and pressed her lips to the fingers and knuckles. "We'd better get you to a hospital before you get infected, Sarah..."  
  
Finally, someone else finally spoke up. It was Minako, with concern drawing lines in her face. "What are we going to tell the nurses when they ask what happened?"  
  
Sarah looked over at the girl with the red ribbon and gave a faint smile, "Tell them I was clumsy and fell off of Haruka's motorcycle." A few of the girls gave a small chuckle. Carefully, they helped her up, then, with Usagi in the lead, they took the injured Sarah to the Hospital. 


End file.
